Last In The Slums
by FrankIeroRules
Summary: Suddenly, she didn't seem so much like someone belonging in an asylum. Zack/Aerith.


There was one more patient left in the room, curled up in a seat. A man walked in, wearing a doctor's coat on top of casual clothing, with surprisingly spiky, black hair, and a frown on his face.

"Aerith?" He called out to the brunette, who was new at the mental asylum situated right on the edge of Midgar. He hadn't had a chance to talk to her yet, as his co-workers had mostly been taking care of her.

"Aerith," The man sighed, "Come with me, now."

Aerith gave a distant look at him before giving in and saying, "Fine," letting him help her up out of her seat.

He slowly led her to her room in silence, and they eventually entered a white room with neatly made bed in the centre.

After helping the brunette woman to bed, he turned to leave, before a voice called to him, "Wait, stay with me... Zack?"

It was almost a question, but he halted immediately and faced the other. "Um, what?" he ruffled his hair and frowned in confusion.

"Stay with me and... tend to the flowers?" She continued to mumble, looking directly at him.

Zack was even more confused as he said, "The flowers?"

"They're the only ones left..." She sighed, "And... only I can tend to them."

Ruffling his black spikes nervously, he said, "And why's that?"

"Because they only like me."

"But Aerith, there's plenty of flowers in the world!"

"In Midgar."

'_But there are no flowers left now, not anymore,'_ He thought to himself, surprised, but reminded himself that if she was in a place like this, then there was a high chance she was just talking nonsense. He figured that it may look suspicious if he was gone too long, anyway, so he bid her goodnight and left.

**...**

"Vinnie, Vinnie! I _want_ my materia!"

The next morning started pretty much the same as usual, as a short, black-haired girl was pried off a much taller man.

"But Cloud, he has my materia!" She complained, as a man with blonde, spiky hair put his hands on her shoulder in an attempt to quieten her.

"Yuffie, it's okay, he hasn't taken your materia."

"Has has!" She stubbornly refused.

"Oh, wow, hey... hold on, what's this in my pocket?" Cloud feigned surprise, taking a small, glowing orb out of his jacket pocket.

The other was instantly mesmerised.

"See? Vincent _didn't_ have materia, you just left it around somewhere." He kindly patted her shoulder, before turning around and walking over too his co-workers.

Zack grinned with a raised eyebrow and said, "Dude, is that actually safe?"

"Yeah, don't worry, it's useless."

Reno, a man with red hair, said with a smirk, "I was a bit worried there, I mean, she's a handful already."

The others agreed with a chuckle, and continued managing their assigned ward.

The day continued peacefully, with no more issues or outbursts – not surprisingly, as there were only four patients for three therapists to look after. But against his better judgement, Zack couldn't let go of the flowers mentioned.

'_It has to be based on something, right?'_ He reasoned, frustrated. So he questioned the brunette about it, straight to the point.

"Aerith... what flowers are in Midgar?"

"You've seen the flowers?" She replied in awe, slouching in her seat.

"No, no..." He bit and pressed on, "You mentioned flowers... where are the flowers?"

"The flowers?" She frowned slightly, "The church... the last in the slums..."

Zack felt optimistic at the progress, even if it was only slight. "The slums?"

Aerith's face was somewhat blank for a moment as Zack waited in anticipation, before Reno interrupted from the doorway, "Yo, Zack, she's got a visitor."

"Huh?"

"Some lady named Tifa."

"Oh, okay."

And with that, Zack stood up and left the brunette, to greet the visitor.

He didn't interfere as the two women talked, merely checking in every fifteen minutes and managing the other patients: loud Yuffie, silent Vincent, and Kadaj, the silver-haired man who mumbled about 'mother' and cradled an empty black box in his arms.

Despite the disappointment about being unable to find out anything more, he was still determined.

**...**

"Hey Aerith, here's your breakfast," Cloud greeted her the next morning after she had made her own way to the common room. She smiled strangely up at the blonde – who merely raised an eyebrow in confusion – and brought a hand up to ruffle his hair, uttering a single word.

"Chocobo."

The blonde gave a short laugh, "Yeah, you're not the first to say that."

Aerith's smile widened, as if acknowledging what he said, and he could tell that she would've said something if it weren't for the outburst from the other side of the rom.

"Yuffie? Yuffie, no!" Reno tried to pry her off Vincent, who cringed away, before Zack leant a helping hand. The two succeeded, and sat her down in a chair as she grinned suspiciously.

"Yuffie..." the redhead scowled, "_Why_ were you biting Vincent on the neck?"

If they had been listening to the others, they would have heard the quiet mutter of, "It's my punishment... Oh, Lucrecia..."

But it was ignored as Yuffie exclaimed, "I was being him! I was being a vampire!"

Zack sighed, "Oh, man..." as the two therapists exchanged sceptical looks.

"Yuffie, he's not a vampire..." the red-haired man continued.

"Yes he is! He's got a cape! And he's all pale, and his eyes are red!" She stared at him before repeating, "And he's wearing a cape! All vampires wear a cape, I know it!"

"Anyone can wear a cape, Yuffie!"

"Yeah, but... he's pale?"

After a moment, she jumped out of the seat again, before the two therapists held her down, deciding to take her to her room for a while to let her relax. On the way out she took a long look at Kadaj, who narrowed his eyes, clutched his black box protectively and said, "Don't hurt mother."

**...**

Over the next couple of days Zack found himself unable to question Aerith anymore. It was only when Tifa visited her again that he figured he could get some answers. When she was leaving, he tapped on her shoulder politely and said, "Hey, excuse me, miss?"

She turned around immediately with a smile and said, "Call me Tifa. And you are?"

"I'm Zack, nice to meet you." He held out a hand that she shook kindly.

"You too."

"Uh, I was wondering... Aerith mentioned something about... some flowers? Here in Midgar?"

"Ah."

He raised his eyebrows and asked, "Do you know what she's talking about?"

"I think so." She paused thoughtfully, looking straight into his eyes. "There was this church in Sector 7 – the slums, you know?"

"Yeah, she mentioned that."

"Ah, I see. Yeah, it's kinda run down, since it's not used anymore. But she used to go there so often."

"Oh." He considered it before asking, "Have you seen 'em?"

"Of course! They're so pretty; the last ones left in Midgar, you know."

"Yeah, I didn't think there were any left. I haven't seen any since I grew up," he smiled, nostalgically.

The two talked for a little while longer, before Zack realised he needed to help his co-workers distribute medicine to the four patients.

**...**

Because their ward was not for serious mental cases, they only had to take medicine once a week. The dosages and substances were not powerful, however, changes in behaviour barely being noticed. But they had to continue to keep within protocol.

Yuffie was the hardest to give medicine to: she inspected the pill with a scowl as Reno held it in front of her.

"But I don't want it." She stubbornly refused.

"Well, it's for your own good."

"How?" she pouted.

Reno thought of anything that would encourage the girl and said, "Well, if you take the pills, it'll give you... ninja powers. And then you'll be the greatest ninja ever."

Yuffie broke into a wide smile, and gave in to swallowing the pills. The two talked a moment longer, until the man stood up and walked over to Vincent, seeing as his other two co-workers were still busy with the remaining patients.

He sat down in front of Vincent, who merely looked up at him in acknowledgement.

"Medicine time, Vinnie." He held a coloured pill out in front of him, and Vincent sighed.

"...Is it my punishment?"

"No, Vincent," he replied with a sigh, used to this, "You don't need punishment."

Without another word, Vincent took the pill and swallowed it with the cup of water given.

'_Well, that was conveniently easy,'_ Reno thought, before asking how the patient was going, and leaving.

Kadaj had cradled his black box to his chest a little more, and asked where 'mother' was. When Cloud sighed and responded that he didn't know, the silver-haired man simply mumbled something inaudible and took the pill.

For Aerith, it was her first time taking the colourful pills they gave her. She stared at them uneasily, before looking up at Zack with an intense stare. He raised his eyebrows, almost questioningly, and after a moment she seemed convinced. She swallowed them quickly and Zack left after a quick moment.

Deciding to find the flowers, he told Cloud and Reno that he just realised he needed to check something out. He wouldn't be long, after all.

He found himself in Sector 7 of Midgar a little while later, wandering around to try and find any churches. It took about another fifteen minutes of this and asking for directions until an old lady kindly told him, "You mean the old one that never gets used anymore?"

He accepted, followed the direction that she pointed him in and found himself outside an old building, mentally slapping himself for not noticing it before. After entering and taking slow steps up the church aisle, he stood in front of a patch of lilies, where there was a break in the tiling and light flowing in from a hole in the roof.

'_So she _was_ right.'_ He frowned, and suddenly, she didn't seem so much like someone belonging in an asylum.

**...**

Zack visited the church most days over the next two weeks, and even spoke with the locals. He was popular with the kids, whom he bought things for and amused with games and funny faces. He tended to the flowers, but didn't let Aerith know about any of this until two weeks after finding them.

The morning passed with the usual happenings after medicine was distributed. Reno was attempting to help Vincent and Yuffie get along, as the latter had just had another odd outburst.

Cloud came into the room and called out to Kadaj, "Hey, Kadaj?" The silver-haired man wordlessly looked up at the blonde, who continued, "You've got a visitor."

"Mother?"

"No..."

There was a long pause before Kadaj sheepishly asked, "Seph?"

Cloud smiled and replied, "Yep, Sephiroth's here to visit you."

A man walked in with long, silver hair and an uncanny resemblance to the patient. When Kadaj asked how mother was, Sephiroth replied with a sigh that she was fine, and he didn't have to worry about a thing. The blonde then left the two to assist Reno.

Zack sat down in front of Aerith and asked, "Hey there, how's your day going?"

She gave a small frown and answered after a moment, "Good," before returning her eyes to the ground.

"That's good." The man said, and a long pause followed, broken by an idea he voiced. "Wanna go outside for a bit? We can take a walk."

He figured it be good for her, anyway. She looked back at him and nodded, almost smiling.

Soon they were strolling around the streets of Midgar. It may not have been the best of scenery, but it was better than staying inside.

Suddenly, Aerith was on the ground, and Zack stooped quickly next to her to see if she was okay. But instead of falling, she was kneeling in front of something colourful on the ground. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was a slightly crumpled flower made of craft paper, probably by a child.

She picked it up, studying it hard with a frown, and the other suddenly felt compelled to take her back to the church. He knew he wasn't allowed to – someone must have noticed the two were missing by now – but he didn't care.

So he asked her, "Aerith... how would you feel about going to see the flowers?"

She smiled widely back at him and asked, "I can see them?"

He nodded happily, and lead her around the city until they entered Sector 7, when she picked up pace, seeming to recognise the area. When they could see the church, she grabbed his hand in excitement and pulled him along, breaking into a run. Soon the two were dashing up the aisle, coming to a stop in front of the flowers.

"They've kept well." She smiled, pulling him down to kneel in front of them with her, the two still holding hands.

"Yeah, I... Uh, I tended to them a little when you couldn't."

"You kept them..." Aerith trailed off, and then continued in awe, "for me?"

He ruffled his hair and said with a nod, "Yeah." Her smile widened slowly, and he chuckled.

The two stayed there for a while longer, chatting and tending to the flowers. When he next checked the time, he saw that they had been away for almost two hours.

"Well, I'm sorry, Aerith," He said truthfully, "But we're going to have to leave now."

"But..." She scowled, but reluctantly stood up and walked over to him with a sigh.

They left without another word, walking faster than they came, the silence only being broken by the brunette when they had just about reached the asylum.

"Will I get to see them again?" Aerith asked, with a dejected frown, after several minutes of silence.

"Of course you will!" Zack said with a grin, happy that this seemed to cheer her up.

After all, they had plenty more time to explore what else the city was hiding.

_**

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This was written for a literature contest held by the group, FF7-fanclub, on DeviantART (no prompt). I really love Zack and Aerith together, they were so sweet in Crisis Core! :3 But I tried not to make it too sappy or anything.

I really, really want to continue this story, to be honest, so I think I might continue on later this year or something. C: But I hope you all enjoyed it! I'd love to know what you thought of it, thanks for reading! :D

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII and its characters belong to Square Enix. **


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